What’s new in tech
‘Smart’ devices with dumb problems
Connected devices leave us dependent on their makers, said Nicole Nyugen in The Wall Street Journal—and in trouble when those makers go under. My husband and I loved using our $2,300 VanMoof X3 e-bikes—until last July, when the Dutch company went bankrupt. Now “many fellow VanMoof owners and I worry that we bought giant, expensive paperweights.” A new company took over VanMoof in August, but “existing warranty and service plans” are gone. Meanwhile, parts are scarce at any price. And when a bike mysteriously stops working, as it did for one customer who plugged his in and “a flashing skull appeared on the frame display” and an alarm “yowled intermittently,” there is no phone support. “This is the bind of modern devices,” which require that we “continue our relationship with device makers, long after the point of sale, to get cool apps and convenience features.” It’s great until it’s not.
Apple cuts prices in China as sales crash
Amid a steep sales drop in China, Apple is offering a rare discount there on its newest iPhones, said Josh Ye in Reuters. “Apple has not cut prices for its latest iPhones in years,” and the 5 percent discount comes after the company “surprised the market by not raising prices for the iPhone 15 at its September launch.” But Apple’s sales of the new handset “have been far worse than for previous models in China,” which has rallied around homegrown rivals such as Huawei and Xiaomi. “Some companies and government departments have been limiting staffers’ use of Apple devices,” retaliating against U.S. government restrictions on Chinese apps. Sales of the iPhone 15 in China are down 30 percent so far in 2024 compared with a year earlier.
Deflating podcast download claims
Apple rankled the podcast industry by quietly changing its listener metrics, said Max Tani in Semafor. While the shift was technical—the dominant podcasting platform began “switching off automatic downloads for users who haven’t listened to five episodes of a show in the last two weeks”—it has produced an immediate downsizing of podcast download numbers. One podcast trade group pushed for the “more accurate audience info.” But podcast executives, who sell ads based on download numbers, say they were blindsided. No major podcasts would discuss the new numbers, suggesting “they aren’t ready to admit how much their audiences have shrunk.”